Happiness Is Its Own Reward
by Cybercitizen
Summary: Her life is happier, Her sister is back in her life, and she has finally embraced the powers she thought were a curse. Elsa is happy and on this day, she reflects on that. (Snow Sisters, Canonverse)


Elsa bolted upright in bed, panting heavily. She looked around, reminding herself where she was. _I'm home_ , she thought. Everything is okay. _It was just a bad dream._

She placed her cold hand on her forehead, sighing. _Stupid dreams._

She looked to one side, seeing her baby sister, Anna, still fast asleep. The young princess's hair was in a mess as usual and her eyes were shut tight, a smile on her lips. Dreaming of chocolate no doubt.

Elsa smiled, feeling relaxed while gazing at her sister.

It had been a few months since they reunited and the two of them had been more than happy to share a room with each other again.

For Elsa, it seemed like the dark days of her life were finally over, but then the nightmares began. They didn't bother Elsa. She wouldn't let that fear control her. Yet they did disturb her.

But Elsa knew that as long as she slept with Anna, she would be reassured that nothing bad would happen to her ever again.

She gently stroked her sister's hair, smiling.

"I have to go now, Anna," she whispered. "I'll see you later."

"Love... uuu... tooo..." Anna mumbled in her sleep.

Elsa giggled at Anna's sleeptalk, seeing how adorable her sleepy little princess was.

She looked out of the window, seeing the sun start to rise. A new day was beginning in Arendelle, and as such, it's queen needed to rise to greet it.

Elsa walked to the center of the room, discarding her nightgown. She closed her eyes and a series of icy blue snowflakes formed from her hands, wrapping around her body. The snowflakes began to harden and form into a shape over the queens body, taking the usual design of her ice dress.

Elsa smiled at herself, still amazed she was able to do so much with her powers.

She then put her hair into it's braid and looked at Anna one final time. "I love you," she mouthed before heading out of the room.

xXx

One of her first tasks of the day was to hold morning court, where she would meet with her various advisers. This was one of the more boring parts of her life as Arendelle's queen, but it was her duty. Besides, she knew that once this meeting was over, she would be free to do as she pleased for the rest of the day.

After grabbing a light snack in the form of a sneaked cookie from the kitchen, a trick she and Anna had honed as children, she made her way to the council chambers, taking her place at the table.

None of her advisers had arrived yet, so Elsa had a few moments to herself. She wondered what would be on the agenda. Her lack of a suitor would obviously be a point of conversation, but Elsa had learned to deal with that at this point.

Soon, her advisors started filing in. They were all older than she was, in their forties and fifties with graying hair.

Elsa sighed as they walked in. She knew that their sort weren't the right people to be advising her. She wished she could fire the whole lot of them and hire some more... younger people to take their place, but she knew that would be too drastic. Besides, she only had to see them twice at week, as per and Anna's special arrangements.

"Good morning, gentlemen," Elsa greeted them.

They all replied with various greetings, one by one.

"Now, let's get this over with shall we?" Elsa stated. "I don't want to be here any more than you do. Minister Larsen, would you care to present the first item on the agenda for today?"

"Of course my queen," he replied with his thick swedish accent. "We have received word from the Southern Isles about the trial of Prince Hans. It is due to be held in a few weeks time and they were wondering if you would wish to give testimony against him."

Hans. That bastard's name still made Elsa shiver. To think she had let that slimeball near her sister, into her home. To think that she once trusted him.

Elsa nodded. "I will. And if Anna is willing, she will too."

"Is that wise my queen?" Another adviser piped up. "After all that man did to you and your sister... wouldn't you think it would be best to just leave him to be dealt with by his own people?"

"No, he was a traitor to Arendelle, and to his own kingdom. It was partly my fault he was able to get as far with his scheme as he did so... it is my responsibility that he should face justice for his crimes."

"As you wish, my queen," the aviser accepted.

"In that case, I'll be able to send a letter to the Southern Isles immediately," Minster Larsen replied.

"Good, now that matter is dealt with, is there anything else?"

"There was something about Avalon, my queen," One of Elsa's military commanders put in. "Their forces are currently wearing thin in their campaign to liberate Germania. They are requesting our assistance."

Elsa sighed. "I'm not quite up to speed on the particulars. From whom exactly is Germania being liberated?"

"A coup by some of it's nobility," the commander reminded her. "Their king was assassinated some months ago, and a few members of the aristocracy took over and turned it into a dictatorship."

"I see," Elsa mused. She didn't want to send any troops to fight a battle that wasn't her own. She'd rather let peace play out rather than needless bloodshed.

But, she realized, she might not have much choice. "Inform them that we won't send any troops, but we will provide them with supplies."

"Of course my queen," the commander accepted.

"Anything else?" Elsa wondered.

"Just one last thing," Minister larsen stated. "There have been a lot of suitor requests piling up of late. Some of us were wondering when you were going to answer them."

Elsa sighed. She knew that this would come up. "I'm not going to bother with them," she stated firmly. "I have made it clear many times before that I have no interest in a relationship, courtship, or alliance with anyone at this time."

"It's not about you," one of the other ministers stated. "It's about the bloodline, of who will rule Arendelle when you are gone."

Elsa frowned. "I'll tell you who will run Arendelle. The only person on God's Earth that I know will do so with the same honour and fairness that I have, and the only person that I would trust with my very life: Princess Anna. And I'm sure that she and her boyfriend, Mr Bjorgman, will probably consider having children at some point, so our bloodline will continue. Now is there anything further to discuss?"

All the ministers shook their heads.

"Good, then I call this meeting adjourned."

xXx

After her meeting had ended, Elsa found herself free for the rest of the day. Knowing she needed her exercise, she decided to go for a walk through the city, a hobby she enjoyed doing.

As she walked out of the doors to the royal castle and into the courtyard, Elsa noticed a familiar face by the stables.

It was Kristoff, having just gotten back from his nightly runs to the mountains to collect ice from the northern lakes, as shown by the large ice blocks on his sleigh.

Elsa smiled at him. Ever since he had helped Anna to save her from Hans, Elsa had grown to trust Kristoff very well, becoming very good friends with the ice harvester.

Even after Anna had told her that they were together, Elsa knew that Kristoff was the right sort of person for Anna to be with, even if she had been a bit hesitant when Anna had immediately gone for him after Hans.

Elsa then walked over to the stables, calling him over. "Hello, Kristoff."

Kristoff turned his head, a smile on his chiseled face. "Morning, Snow Queen."

Elsa rolled her eyes at the nickname a lot of the townsfolk, including Kristoff, had given her. "Back from a long night on the job?"

"You could say," Kristoff mused. "With spring coming around people will be wanting to keep cool, especially if there's a heatwave."

"Well, I'm sure that will be taken care of by you, Royal Ice Master."

Kristoff chuckled. "You know you made up that title just to keep me around, right?"

"Actually, Anna was the one who came up with it," Elsa pointed out. She then saw one of the ice blocks still on the sleigh. "Why haven't you unloaded that one yet?"

"Elsa, I'm a burly man, but even I can get tired."

"Let me help," Elsa flicked her wrist and an icy gust of magic flew from her hand, gently lifting the block from Kristoff's sleigh.

"Thanks, Elsa," Kristoff said gratefully. "You're a real lifesaver."

"Anything for a friend," Elsa replied, proudly.

Kristoff then rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, um, Elsa... is Anna gonna be free on saturday?"

"Why do you ask?" Elsa inquired.

"Well, it's just there's this lovely new cafe down over in Trøndelag," Kristoff told her. "And I'm giving myself a bit of a day off that day, so..."

Elsa giggled. "Kristoff, you don't need my permission to take Anna out on a date. She's a perfectly simple girl. You can just ask her."

"Yeah, but she's a girl with the word princess in her name," Kristoff remarked.

The Queen laughed. "Kristoff, just because Anna and I are royalty, doesn't mean we act like royals all the time."

"I know, I know."

Elsa then flicked a bit of dirt off Kristoff's shirt. "But, if you want my permission to take Anna out this weekend, you may have it."

"Thank you, your majesty," he then bowed.

Elsa then left Kristoff as he was, striding towards the castle gates, feeling the sunlight of the morning onto her rather pale skin. It was her policy now that these gates be open at all times, rather than be shut away.

Anna liked these gates open and Elsa did as well. It was the first action Elsa took as queen, knowing that with them open, all the bad memories of her and Anna being apart from each other would slowly drift away.

She walked across the bridge into the town, seeing the various townsfolk going about their business.

Some bowed in respect, others like the younger children merely waved hello.

Elsa felt beloved by all these people, some even worshipped her like a goddess, which Anna honestly found quite funny.

Elsa didn't mind being that at all. All she cared about was an Arendelle at peace.

Eventually, Elsa came to a large statue in the town square. It had been erected not long after she came to the throne and depicted her and Anna together, happy at last.

Elsa stroked the stone on the side of the sculpture of her sister, smiling at it. She knew that even though this carving resembled her sister, nothing was as perfect as the real thing.

She then looked around, seeing several market stalls begin to be set up. The city would soon be growing very busy, a little too busy for her liking.

Elsa then looked up to the clouds, knowing of the one other place she could be to find some peace.

xXx

Some time later, Elsa blew open the large icy doors to the balcony of her ice palace, striding onto the railing like she had done that fateful night when she became queen, letting go of her powers for the first time, singing her heart out and creating the wondrous place she now called a second home.

She stood on the railing, letting herself feel free in the cold breeze, especially since she decided to melt her ice dress away, exposing her perfectly beautiful body to the elements.

"Cold doesn't bother me," Elsa spoke to no one in particular.

She closed her eyes and began to feel the icy currents flow through the north mountains. Her body soon felt relaxed and content, all the stresses of the morning having gone away completely.

Elsa walked back into the palace, creating an icy throne and sitting upon it, dressing herself back into her ice dress. She smiled and laid her head back, letting her thoughts drift.

She was the queen of two kingdoms in a sense. One of her birthright and one of her own creation.

Arendelle was her home, her place to rule and protect as she had been instructed, but the mountains, the icy peaks of the north, these were her own kingdom, her domain.

She had no citizens here, except a friendly ice troll of her own creation. Elsa had been a bit iffy on creating life with her powers and wanted to exercise caution.

Yes, Olaf was like a son to her and Anna sometimes, but Elsa knew that the power of life itself was a gift that raised very moral and ethical questions.

Was it right to bring such creatures of the ice into a world where they might not be accepted? What if Elsa created an ice creature so human, so perfect, that it would want to take over the world? these questions Elsa knew she wasn't the right person to answer. She believed in god, not human philosophy.

Elsa often wondered where her powers came from. Her parents didn't know either. According to them, she just randomly started making snowflakes as a baby and her powers grew ever since.

Anna had often came up with many humorous takes. Like Elsa was really the child of some icy dragon, or that the moon had given Elsa her powers.

Elsa didn't really care where the powers came from anymore, so long as she could use them to do good and good she had done.

In her few months on the throne, she had made more progress and social reforms than any previous monarch, some that raised the eyebrows of other kingdoms, but Elsa knew that she was doing what was right.

Anna had begun to help her sister a lot in her royal duties, despite Elsa insisting that Anna live a normal life. But Anna would have none of it, and in a way, Elsa was thankful to have a voice to bounce her ideas off from when it came to matters of the crown.

Elsa raised a finger, creating a small icy tiara on her head. "Snow Queen." She chuckled. It was such a silly name to her. Like she was some character from a children's book, but in a way... Elsa quite liked it. After all, deep inside, Elsa was very much like a little girl. She wouldn't show this side of herself in public of course, but to Anna, her beloved little sister and best friend, she'd gladly be like a little kid with her.

One of her royal decrees as Queen was that she be given a lot of free time. Elsa stressed easily and the many opportunities she had to spend with Anna were a blessing.

Speaking of Anna, Elsa knew her sister would be awake soon. Being the heavy sleeper she was, Elsa would probably have to wake the young princess herself. Elsa didn't mind of course.

She then got up and walked down the icy steps of her ice palace, eager to return home.

xXx

When Elsa got back to the castle, it was about lunchtime and the city was much busier. Thankfully, Elsa was able to sneak back home without much trouble.

As she walked through the gates to the castle, she saw the familiar outline in her window of Anna getting up, noticing a freckled arm stretch into the air.

She was awake and Elsa needed to see her.

She grinned widely and ran into the palace, racing up the steps and nearly tripping over her cape, but thankfully not tumbling onto the ground like a dork.

The Queen strode up to the shared bedroom of herself and Anna, gently opening the door by the knob and sticking her head inside. "Anna?"

As if on cue, Anna raced up to Elsa, wrapping her arms around the beautiful queen.

Elsa smiled and hugged Anna back. "Good afternoon," she greeted her.

"It's morning," Anna giggled. "Wait, it is morning right?"

"It's actually just gone midday," the older sister informed her.

"Crap," she mused. "I overslept again."

Elsa smiled and pulled Anna back, gazing at her adorable younger sister. "It's okay. You're allowed to be lazy and sleep in."

Anna looked at Elsa, feeling the pull of gravity between them. "So... had a good morning?"

"Pretty uneventful," Elsa replied. "but I'm very eager to spend the rest of the day with you."

Anna beamed. "Yes! Sister time!"

"But you get your hair sorted first," Elsa instructed. "It's a bit of a... tangle."

Anna giggled. "I thought you were said I was allowed to be lazy."

"Not with you hair in a state like that," Elsa replied, booping Anna on the nose.

Anna blushed. "Just give me five minutes okay? then we'll go have some fun."

Elsa smiled. "Deal."

As Elsa watched Anna prepare herself for their time together, she thought about how happy she was in that moment. Anna and her, apart for so many years, now together again. To Elsa, this was truly a fitting reward.

xXx

 **Author's note:** Not really the usual sort of fic that I do, but I just kinda felt like doing a little character driven fic for Elsie :3

See you next time!


End file.
